Episode 264: Det A, little known American Special Forces unit in post-Nazi Germany

It’s often said on this podcast that we try to strike a balance between having on A-list guests with major names in the community, and bringing on guys with incredible stories that we’ve tracked down and that you’ve almost certainly never heard from before. Bob Charest most definitely fits that second category, and his time in Detachment A is fascinating. Up until very recently, there was nearly no information to be found on the Special Forces unit in Cold War Germany comprised of American soldiers, and indigenous people in the area even including ex-Nazis. Some of this can be attributed to these men believing in the “silent professional” mantra that is often referred to, but lucky for us, Jack Murphy has a real gift at getting these guys to open up; and with many of them getting older, they feel it’s time to tell their story. Jack has written some fascinating articles on Det A over the span of the past year, and now we get to hear from one of these men first hand on the podcast.

About the Author

Ian Scotto
is a New York Festivals award winning radio producer from Long Island, New York with on-air and behind the scenes radio experience for over a decade. Ian holds a degree in radio from Hofstra University and got his start at WRHU, the highest ranked college radio station by the Princeton Review. Since then, Ian went on to work at Sirius XM on Fangoria Radio with legendary rock icon Dee Snider, The Wilkow Majority with conservative firebrand Andrew Wilkow, and producing American Voices with Senator Bill Bradley. Ian now works full time at Hurricane Group producing and co-hosting SOFREP Radio, the leading special operations podcast, as well as producing Brandon Webb’s The Power of Thought podcast. Ian is a fitness enthusiast, rock & roll fanatic, and keeps his faith in God.

Comments

This was a real treat. Thanks for reaching out to preserve these stories, for all of us.

Antonio A

Super interview, keep em comming.

Watson

I just purchased "Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the Us Army's Elite, 1956-1990"
by James Stejskal and it has been nothing but awesome. Definitely worth the purchase and tells some awesome stories about Detachment A.